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“Mind Flex” is a new toy being hawked by Mattel that allows you to control the pictured ball with the power of your mind.  Essentially, you place the headset over your cranium and then using the sheer force of your massive brain, you direct the ball through various obstacles.  Check out the article for a demonstration video.

I thought two things immediately when I saw this:

1) The future is here.  Okay, baby step to the future, but still pretty neat-o.

2) This is the most pointless thing I have ever seen.

As far as design principles go, this ranks right up with catching a ball in a cup and bouncing a ball off a paddle.  Granted, this is a toy probably meant to be sold to the screaming 8-year old masses, and thus probably wasn’t designed to be all that  deep.  But that doesn’t change the fact that in the end it doesn’t mean anything.  It’s a reminder that technology without proper design is a glittering lure.  Design gives technology a purpose.

Then I thought, “this device reminds me so much of how I feel when I play games these days: hollow”.  When will we no longer be content with jumping through digital hoops?

Work is well underway with the second iteration of the prototype.  There are so many changes being made to the game and I’m really quite excited to see how my testers are going to respond to the changes.

Also, I am now officially looking for a 2D artist\animator!  If someone knows someone wanting to work on a game project, please direct them to the following ad:

Stealth/Horror Game needs 2D Artist/Animator

Looking for:

2D artist/animator proficient in Pixel Art

Requirements:

* Able to commit 15-20 hours a week

* Previous game development experience required, formal or informal, complete or incomplete.

* Passion for trying to bridge the gap between great narratives and solid gameplay.

* Can deliver an artistic style similar to the following image:

About me:

My name is Eric, and I’m a double major in Computer Science and Economics at UC Berkeley.  Currently, I am the programmer/designer/writer for this project.

About the game:

My aim is to create a cohesive 2-3 hour experience centered on an evocative non-linear story-focused atmosphere. The perspective that this game will use will be similar to the pseudo top-down styles utilized by games such as Chrono Trigger and Terranigma.  A prototype has been finished and the design document just finished its third revision.  Work on the second iteration of the prototype is well underway, and over the next several months I hope to iterate the prototype one more time and finish work on one of five areas.

Notable gameplay features include a mechanic which allows players to customize their approach to stealth, and a dialog choice system which not only changes the story, but dramatically changes the player’s approach to the game.

This game is currently being developed for the PC using the Torque Game Builder engine.

Contact information:

Please e-mail me at eric (dot) paik (at) gmail (dot) com if interested.  Include portfolio links and relevant work.

Thanks for reading!

Eric

So I finished a prototype for my game last week.  Things I have learned:

- Now I understand why testers capture their playthroughs on video.  It’s frustrating trying to figure out what the exact problem is by talking it through.

- Make sure to test your builds on other machines aside from your development machine before sending out test copies.

- I need to come up with some kind of feedback form for people to fill out.

- Knowing nothing is right the first time is not the same thing as dealing with the fact that nothing is right the first time.

- Murphy is an asshole.

Next up on the agenda, expanding the design document and then seeing about hiring a 2d artist/animator and maybe even a composer.  Also starting the next iteration of the prototype which will resemble more of an alpha/beta build.

Current Target Milestone:  Build prototype level that explores core gameplay mechanic.

In order to meet those goals:

1.  Prototype level sketch must be finalized.

2.  Pathing logic needs to be reworked to allow NPCs to dynamically detach themselves from path and then return to that exact spot on their current route.

3.  Sound must be implemented for certain events in the game.

Just three things out of a very long list of many other things to do and tweak.

To those unfamiliar with the happenings of my private life, I am currently working on making a game.  As of now, it is a solo effort until I have enough work to prove to someone (such as an artist) that I have the wherewithal to finish this project.  I’m shooting for this to be in a “done” state by the end of this year, though a fully polished state will probably take more time.

While this is not my first attempt at a project, I have to say this is probably my best attempt so far.  It has always been my position that making games requires an set of skills that is extreme in its breadth and depth.  One must also consider how all the different aspects of gameplay design, story, art, music, sound, etc. all intermesh and combine into one cohesive experience.  Working on games though has shown me just how much there is to consider when it comes to this medium.  It really is quite humbling.

That being said, I feel that this is the best way to learn.  Nothing beats self-experimentation in my book.

What part of this deserves to be called Might and Magic?

My issue with this isn’t so much that the gameplay looks bad or anything like that.  It’s mainly the contrast between my childhood memories of this long standing series being juxtaposed with this. . . “reboot”.

It’s like a friend from middle school reappeared on my door step with a boob job, sex change, face lift, and decided to do that ulzzang thing.  Honestly, did they really have to use the IP like this?  How much of a marketing benefit do they think is going to come from “reinvisioning” the series like this?

Because apparently the future is filled with peace and wuv.

Normally I avoid reading Kotaku.  Mainly because when I do, my blood pressure rises and then I need to go lie down.  But things like this are nice to hear.

I might not like/agree with what Bioware does, but they do quality work.  It should be interesting to see what evolves from this.

Once again, my rather longish hiatus is over.  Swinging back into the posting saddle again.

That being said, I am working on a new project.  Expect updates on that here.

I can’t help but feel like I’m doing this douche a favor by talking about this topic. After all, publicity is how these oxygen-thief-excuses-for-artists work. Creating “dialog” and all that nasty jazz. But after seeing another article on this monumental pile of trash, I can’t stop myself from getting hot under the collar. This post will probably be the most political one that I will post. It was also most likely contain expletives and such. I have no other excuse except to say I’m pissed.

So for the uninitiated the article can be found here. In short, Bilal, a member of the faculty at the Art Institute of Chicago has put up a game at the FLATFILE gallery. The game essentially involves the player assisting in the assassination of everyone’s current favorite president, George W. Bush.

While the implications of such a game and the double-standards involved are irritating, that’s not what I find infuriating. What really pisses me off was that this douche chose one of my favorite past-times to take a shit with and display his turd for everyone to see. At most, I can see this as a backhanded compliment to the medium and its ability to convey a “message”. But you know what? You can take your “message” and shove it where the sun does not shine. Games are not about your message. They’re about making people have fun and, if you must, educating them on the side.

Have any doubts that its only about the message?

I talked to him and asked him if he planned to make the game available for play outside of his exhibit he said no. His response was that he didn’t want people playing the game alone, but would prefer that they play it in an area like the one set up in Troy, where there can be a dialogue about the game.

I wouldn’t mind this whole thing so much if the game in question actually had the craftsmanship behind to to call it art. I cannot stand this modern art mentality where the only that matters is the message. Technique, the expression of the soul, these things all fall by the wayside for the point that is trying to be conveyed. Originality, not authenticity has become an obsession. Games like Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, Panzer Dragoon Saga, etc. deserve to be called art. They might not have an implicit “message”. But you cannot deny that the way they unify the excellence in the elements graphics (at the time), art, music, gameplay, voice acting, story into one incredible experience. Those games deserve to be called art because of the level of craftsmanship, evolution of design, and heart placed into them. If there was a message in them (and I’m sure that some of them indeed do), it was placed behind the importance in creating a world for people to enjoy.

I will say that I sympathize with Bilal’s pain. But he’s still an ass for using the medium in this way. Here an idea: use this as an example of how create art with a message. And I’ll even include some commentary from men who have accomplished more then you or I.

Picasso said, “…this bull is a bull and this horse is a horse… If you give a meaning to certain things in my paintings it may be very true, but it is not my idea to give this meaning. What ideas and conclusions you have got I obtained too, but instinctively, unconsciously. I make the painting for the painting. I paint the objects for what they are.”

“The new kind of music seems to create not from the heart but from the head. Its composers think rather than feel. They have not the capacity to make their works exalt—they meditate, protest, analyze, reason, calculate and brood, but they do not exalt.” – Sergei Rachmaninoff

As a design concept in RPGs they’re practically ubiquitous. But why the hell do we need them?

Sure they provide an easy measure of progress for the player, but is it really worth the cost of pigeon holing ourselves into this design concept? Are there really no disadvantages to such a system? Today I’m going to argue that there are good reasons why we should get rid of the entire concept of “levels”. This post will be mainly be referencing MMORPGs rather then single-player RPGs.

1. Levels create “video game adultery” or social ostracization

Let’s say I’m playing with a group of people. If we want to play together so that everyone gets something out of the content that we are doing, we need to stay within the same level of each other. In order to do that, we would have to play at around the same time or gain roughly the same amount of experience so that we can all experience the same content while also enjoying the fruits of doing so.

But once someone falls behind, or someone sneaks ahead of everyone else, the group is placed into a dilemma. Essentially the onus is placed on someone to spend more time or less time in the game so that they can once again play with the others. Should they fail to do so, it is inevitable that a sort of social ostracization takes place where the person who is not in sync with the rest of the group’s levels is forced to find another social circle or put-up with playing less or more. This becomes a real problem for those who cannot play as much as their real life friends and cannot “hang out” as it were with the rest of his or her crew.

2. Levels encourage linear design

Yes, shocking. I am arguing against linear design. Note that this is a condemnation of linear gameplay design, not against a linear narrative.

At first glance, an MMORPG might not appear to have linear design built into it. But that’s only at first glance. If one begins to look at mob levels, quest levels, etc, one quickly realizes that an MMO creates a linear sort of gameplay by using geographic regions to split players up. While games such as WoW provide multiple areas for a given level range, the end result is that one can chart player progression through areas as a straight line.

The problem with this approach is that content becomes obsolete. Once a player has leveled beyond the level range of the content, the area is effectively “useless” from a progression standpoint. There is no reason for him or her to continue to be in that area. They can only travel to a region that provides for their level range. Even if they have never explored that region before, if they are outside that region’s level range, it is still effectively useless. Furthermore, once a player gets to the current max level, there are only several areas where he or she can spend her time.

3. Levels place mechanical\time requirements on content

By this I mean to get through content, at a certain point, things like average group level become an issue before even player skill or group composition can really come into play. If one’s team has a high enough average group level, they can plow through the content in question without having to worry about anything else. Thus in a sense the ultimate requirement in the end is not thought, knowledge, or skill, it’s really time invested in the game. While this provides almost no barrier to content whatsoever (spend enough time at it and you’ll get through anything), I believe that it makes gameplay dull and boring after a certain points. Once the “mechanical” requirements of a character are taken care of, the player does not have to think at all while playing, and can just play like a robot.

Some Final Thoughts

There are obviously counter arguments to everything that I have written. While I could some of them now, I’m on my lunch break right now. So I’ll address the biggest, and most basic issue as to why it’s hard to replace the concept of “levels”.

Currently in RPGs in general, we interpret the concept of growth of having only one direction: straight up. The idea of causing a player’s character to retrograde is not an attractive one to say the least. So in the end the only a character can truly develop is making the numbers increase.

What I’m trying to say is that in a sense, RPG design suffers from a philosophical issue at its core. Progression is “fun”, but we only know how to interpret it in a single way because of the reliance on numbers to define characters and character progression. As it stands in most RPGs, according to the computer a character is merely an excel spreadsheet of attributes, equipment, and skills. We haven’t found a way to measure and dole out progression in any other way.

So is there another philosophy of progression? I have no idea. Honestly this could all just be hot air. I need to think on it some more.

More on these thoughts later, my mind doesn’t work that well on five hours of sleep.